Cold/Wind Chill — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2014-01-22 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Wider weather episode

Strong northwest winds behind the departing strong low pressure system coupled with another arctic air mass dropped low temperatures on the morning of the 22nd around zero (well below zero in the Poconos) and produced wind chill factors as low as around 15 degrees below zero, except around 25 degrees below zero in the Poconos. In some places, low temperatures were as cold as January 7th and wind chill factors came close to matching that morning. The unseasonably cold weather contributed to four deaths in the local Philadelphia area. In Philadelphia, a 30 year-old homeless man was found dead in a snow drift at the intersection of 9th Street and Ridge Avenue. In Delaware County, a 89-year-old man and 92-year-old woman in Ridley Park were found unresponsive outdoors as was a 67-year-old man in Swarthmore.

Lowest hourly wind chills included 29 degrees below zero in Mount Pocono (Monroe County), 17 degrees below zero at the Philadelphia International Airport and Pottstown (Montgomery County), 16 degrees below zero at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and 15 degrees below zero in Reading (Berks County) and Doylestown (Bucks County).

Actual low temperatures included 4 degrees at the Philadelphia International Airport. This matched January 7th for the lowest temperature of the winter season. The low temperature of 9 degrees below zero in Mount Pocono (Monroe County) also matched the low on January 7th. The lowest reading of the winter season there occurred on February 12th (10 below zero). Other low temperatures that morning included 5 degrees below zero in Saylorsburg (Monroe County), 1 degree below zero at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, zero in Doylestown (Bucks County) and Glenmoore (Chester County), 1 degree above zero in Pottstown (Montgomery County) and Kennett Square (Chester County), 2 degrees above zero in Reading (Berks County), Horsham (Montgomery County) and Nazareth (Northampton County), 3 degrees above zero in Langhorne (Bucks County) and 4 degrees above zero in Aston (Delaware County).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 497018. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.